“Okay, stop. Wait. Let me think.”
“No.” Rip. “Four million.”
“Fine! Fine, I’ll take it.”
Katrina paused with her hand on the four-million-dollar check. “Say it.”
His face contorted, like he was swallowing something bitter. She hoped it did taste like that, like the grossest medicine a person could imbibe. “I tried to blackmail you.”
“Say you were a shitty father.” She paused. “And a worse manager.”
He repeated the words through gritted teeth.
“Thanks. That was lovely.” She slid a paper across the table. “Sign this.”
“What is it?”
“Basically everything you just said, in writing. I like to cover my bases.”
He scowled, but signed it.
She waved the check in front of him. “You are officially gagged. Are we clear?”
“Yes. Fine.” Thomas grabbed the check and tucked it into his suit pocket. He rose to his feet and sneered. “Goodbye, you crazy bitch.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“I THINK WE’RE DONE.” If nothing else, Jas was done. Katrina’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkling, her back straight. She looked magnificent, not cowed, but he’d be damned if he’d let Thomas insult her, especially after she’d given him millions.
Jas grabbed the older man’s arm harder than he needed to, and marched him to the door. “Don’t say another word,” he breathed as the man opened his mouth, no doubt ready to launch another insult at his daughter. Doodle—or Death, he’d had to think quick—obediently followed behind them.
Mona had left the back door open. “Oops,” Jas murmured, as he knocked Thomas into the frame of the door.
“Oh, so sorry,” he added, when he stuck his foot out as they descended the back steps. After he fell, Thomas scrambled to his feet and glared at him. His cheek was scraped, blood welling.
Jas had a flashback to Katrina all those years ago, injured and bleeding, and he felt a sudden, violent urge to destroy Thomas, even though the man hadn’t been responsible for that particular wound. Something in his eyes must have telegraphed his rage, because Thomas stumbled backward, tripping on his own feet and landing on his ass in the alley.
Jas didn’t believe in violence as a rule, but if anyone deserved to get knocked around a little, it was this guy.
“Let me help you up.” Jas bent down and grabbed the older man by his shirtfront and turned and slammed him against his own car, a bright red brand-new Ferrari. Jas brought his lips close to the man’s ear. “If you don’t leave Katrina alone for the rest of your life, being smeared isn’t the only thing you’ll have to fear. I will kill you. But first I’ll make it so you beg to die. Are we clear?”
Doodle barked and growled behind Jas, as if to add her own contribution to the threat.
He didn’t release Thomas until the man gave a short nod. “Apologies,” Jas added, when he opened the car door into Thomas’s midsection. “Have a nice drive home.” He shoved the still-doubled-over man into the vehicle and shut the door, only narrowly missing Thomas’s foot.
Jas waited until the guy left. Life had been so much easier when he’d stomped all his feelings down. This swirling mess of worry and concern and anger was rough.
He’d deal with the concern first. Then the rest.
KATRINA WAS BENT over, head between her legs, when she heard the office door open. Jas. She could tell by his footsteps.
His shiny black loafers came into view, along with Doodle’s four brown paws, and then he was crouching down in front of her, lifting her chin to inspect her face. Doodle licked her cheeks. Jas pulled out his handkerchief, and did a better job of drying her tears. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” she sobbed.
“I don’t believe you.”
She took a deep, shaky breath. “I hate the thought that that man is my family.”
He stroked her hair back from her face. “What’s that saying again? The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb? You chose your family, and it’s not him.”
She took the handkerchief and blew her nose. He held out a gold watch. She stared at the Rolex. “What . . . ?”
“It’ll take him a while to realize he doesn’t have it.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You took my dad’s watch?”
“I was going to take back the check, but figured that may cause some problems down the line.”
Dumbly, she accepted the watch. It was a Submariner. Pricey. “What on earth do I do with this?”
“I don’t know.” He bared his teeth. “I couldn’t let him leave feeling like he’d gotten away with everything. It’s not a four-million-dollar watch, but it’s an expensive one. Pawn it.”
An odd urge to laugh came over her. “I’ll give it to Mona. A thank you gift.” Her smile came from deep within her soul. Yes, it had cost her millions of dollars, but now it was done. Her dad wouldn’t come back. And if he did, she had leverage. He liked his reputation. He wouldn’t want it smeared.
She inhaled. Most important, she’d done this herself.
The shame that she’d harbored over Hardeep saving her slipped away. It had taken her years to get to this point. She would never have been able to do it in her twenties. It was truly okay for her to have gotten help when she hadn’t had these financial or emotional resources.
She smiled through her tears. “I did it, Jas.”
“You sure did it.”
The unusual inflection in his tone had her glancing up. “Is something wrong?”
“Is something wrong?” He laughed, and it was a hard laugh she’d never really heard from him. “To quote you, what, and I cannot stress this enough, the fuck were you thinking?”
She squinted up at him. “I don’t want to live my life waiting for the other shoe to drop any longer. I wanted him gone.”
Jas took a step back and placed his hands on his hips. “What if I hadn’t been here?” he asked, his voice raspy.
“You were here,” she said simply.
“What if he’d attacked you, and I couldn’t stop him?”
“Physical violence isn’t his style.” No, it had always been psychological and emotional abuse her dad had gone with. “In any case, you and Doodle could have handled anything.”
He raked his hands through his hair. “You should have told me. I’m your security.”
Oh dear. He was really upset. “Okay.” She held out her hand, which Doodle licked, then nuzzled. “You know what? You’re right. I should have told you.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“I’m not.” She wasn’t only trying to placate him. Her common sense had been mildly blinded by her emotions and anticipation of this showdown.
She may have also been thinking of Jas more like her boyfriend and less like her security. Which wasn’t an excuse she particularly wanted to share with him. “I see your point. You’re my bodyguard, it’s your job to know about this stuff. Had it been anyone else, I would have given you a heads-up. I didn’t think that through, and I’m sorry.” She licked her lips. “I needed to do this, very badly, for myself, and I think my anger blinded me to the practical logistics of this meeting.”